{"id":19928,"date":"2024-04-14T21:51:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T01:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?post_type=wfsu-news&p=19928"},"modified":"2024-04-14T22:41:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T02:41:26","slug":"more-and-more-florida-seniors-are-struggling-to-stay-in-their-homes","status":"publish","type":"wfsu-news","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/more-and-more-florida-seniors-are-struggling-to-stay-in-their-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"More and more Florida seniors are struggling to stay in their homes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shelters for unhoused people are seeing more and more seniors on fixed incomes. As Margie Menzel reports, the reasons include the lack of affordable housing and the rising costs of rent \u2013 and of staying in their own homes.<\/p>\n

The Kearney Center in Tallahassee has a capacity of 450. It had been averaging about 230 residents, but over the last six months it\u2019s increased to 330. About 53 percent of the residents are aged 45 or older.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have right at 100 clients that are over the age of 65. So, that aging population that we\u2019re seeing \u2026God bless \u2018em. This is not what they signed up for.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Kearney Center Executive Director Sonya Wilson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are people that have worked their whole life,” she says.<\/p>\n

Wilson attributes their numbers in the shelter to the lack of affordable housing, sometimes to a disability, and the rise in property insurance and property taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir checks haven\u2019t went up to sustain them in their housing that they currently have. So, they\u2019re ending up here at the shelter \u2013 no fault of their own,” she says. “But they simply can\u2019t afford \u2013 whether it be the taxes and the insurance on a mortgage that puts them out or an apartment that the rent goes up \u2013 they can no longer sustain that. So, they find theirselves here\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

In South Florida, where housing is even harder to come by, Max Rothman is the president and CEO of the Alliance for Aging. He says living on a fixed income is a huge driver of seniors losing their housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, undoubtedly, including some that aren\u2019t on a fixed income, but that\u2019s certainly a critical factor,” Rothman says. “I think the cost of living has gone up dramatically\u2026 inflation factor\u2026mental health issues\u2026the lack of affordable housing\u2026All of these things contribute to challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year the Alliance for Aging received 1,784 calls to its Help Line specifically about housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the ones that we hear \u2013 they got a rent increase and they can\u2019t afford it,\u201d says Rothman.<\/p>\n

At the same time, gentrification is driving people out of their long-time homes, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about increasing costs, places like Little Haiti, Wynwood \u2013 they\u2019ve been going through gentrification. So that drives up the rentals and older people can\u2019t\u2026simply can\u2019t afford them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rothman says a second wave of baby boomers, born in the mid-fifties to the mid-sixties\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026who are retiring or can\u2019t work anymore for one reason or another, and they\u2019re beginning to show up much, much more in our system,” Rothman says. “What that suggests is that this problem isn\u2019t going away in the short term. It\u2019s been increasing for years, and I think we\u2019ll be experiencing it for some years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Florida Aging Statistics and Resource Guide, 27 percent of the state\u2019s population is aged 60 or older. Thirteen percent of seniors aged 65 or older are living alone. The median household income for a Florida senior is $42,600. For non-seniors, that figure is nearly $68,000. <\/p>\n

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